Published in:
01-05-2017
Individually tailored dietary counseling among old home care clients - Effects on nutritional status
Published in: The journal of nutrition, health & aging | Issue 5/2017
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Objective
To evaluate the effect of individually tailored dietary counseling on nutritional status among home care clients aged 75 years or older.
Design
Non-randomised controlled study.
Setting and participants
The study sample consisted of 224 home care clients (≥ 75 years) (intervention group, n = 127; control group, n = 100) who were at protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) or risk of PEM (MNA score <24 and plasma albumin <35 g/L).
Intervention
Individually tailored dietary counseling; the persons were instructed to increase their food intake with energy-dense food items, the number of meals they ate and their consumption of energy-, protein- and nutrient-rich snacks for six months.
Measurements
The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Body Mass Index (BMI) and plasma albumin were used to determine nutritional status at the baseline and after the six-month intervention.
Results
The mean age of the home care clients was 84.3 (SD 5.5) in the intervention group and 84.4 (SD 5.3) in the control group, and 70 percent were women in both groups. After the six-month nutritional intervention, the MNA score increased 2.3 points and plasma albumin 1.6 g/L in the intervention group, against MNA score decreased -0.2 points and plasma albumin -0.1 g/L in the control group.
Conclusions
Individually tailored dietary counseling may improve nutritional status among older home care clients.